I just can't stop making bags!

It is still December and I have made one final bag for the year. I was shopping at Anthropolgie with my neighbor Kris, and I saw some vibrant, semi-quilted placemats. I folded one in half and could see that it had the potential to make a cheerful, colorful little bag. I bought it, brought it home, and tried to figure out the design and handle. It already had a perfect lining, so I just sewed up the sides, added corners to the bottom, and attached some plain wooden handles using yellow grosgrain ribbon. And here it is, just as cute as can be. I am not sure what to do with it (the perennial problem). I might take it with me to Mexico to use as a purse, unless I hear that someone has fallen in love with it and would like to claim it for their own!

The December Bag is ready to give away

Here is my cute little December tote bag. It is made from woven placemats I bought in Puerto Vallarta, last winter. The outer fabric is from two matching, multi-color place mats and the inside lining (see below) is made from two yellow placemats.

I took the multi colored place mats and pinned them to plain white flannel, then quilted them with a simple criss cross pattern. I used flannel, rather than batting, to keep the bag light weight.

After the bag was made, I decided to fill it with Mexican food items. It is now full of tortilla chips, salsa, guacamole mix, mole mix, refried beans, Spanish rice mix, and taco shells. I even added a bottle of hot sauce. I attached a card (hand stamped by my friend Carol) and it is ready to go.

Where is it going? To the Freedom in Wheelchairs program in Hopkins, for their holiday party and fundraiser. This is a non profit organization that supports people in wheelchairs. My friend Eileen told me about this group and she is donating two more filled bags to their fundraiser, which is next week.

So there it is, my last bag of the month. The project is complete. I feel good that each month I made and gave away at least one bag. It is not a big thing to do but it was my "giving" program of the year. Now I am thinking about a new program to begin next year, maybe with my husband Michael. We are heading to Mexico for a vacation and I will do some thinking and planning about our new project while we are there.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Four November bags are finished!

For November I made four bags to donate to Rebecca's nonprofit bookstore: In Other Words (in Portland, Oregon). They can sell these at the store and donate the money to the store (which always needs money!) These four bags are made from quilted place mats from Morocco. Each bag is made of two two matching, solid colored, quilted place mats. First I sewed pockets on them so there are big, roomy pockets on each outside surface of the tote. Then I sewed black cotton webbing on to secure the edges of the pockets and also become the handles. I found this pattern on the Internet, but it did not include a lining. I wanted to add a lining. So I made a fabric lining the same dimensions of the tote, and sewed it in as the final step. For the blue bag I used the same fabric for the lining and the outside pockets. But for the other three bags I had to use different fabrics for the pockets.

Here is the orange tote, showing the different fabric for the lining:

The bags were fun to make and fairly easy. But even so, each one has at least one big flaw so I am afraid that they will not bring in much money for the bookstore. I am also not sure if we will fill them with anything, because that would add to their cost and I think that might prevent them from being sold. I'll consult with Rebecca when I see her at Thanksgiving in a few weeks.

The placemats have a very tight quilting pattern (they came that way) and it makes for a nice looking bag. I tried out the blue one (which I made last month) and it worked very well as a tote for papers and a laptop at a meeting I attended in DC last month.

One of the nice things about this project is that it used up some very old pieces of fabric from my stash, which were used as lining an pockets. They came from a box of fabrics that Rebecca labeled "Browns and crap colors" when she sorted and organized fabrics for me three years ago. These fabrics were bought early in my career as a quilter and do look quite different from the colorful French and batik fabrics I tend to favor these days. But I must admit, they look very nice as linings and pickets of the quilted tote bags.

It pleases me to see the four bags hanging on my fabric board, and to know that they are finished except for cutting a few stray threads. I am eager to make my December bag or bags, which will be donated to a fundraiser for People in Wheelchairs. This was suggested by my quilting friend. I had bought some colorful woven placemats in Mexico last year, and I want to make these into tote bags. They are different from the placemats Iturned into the February bag. I will have fun figuring out how to turn those into attractive totes, and Eileen will fill at least one with products from Mexico for the silent auction.

The Farmers Market Bags have been given away!

I have just given away the second ill-fated farmers' market bag, along with a copy of Local Flavors cookbook by Deborah Madison, to my cousin Cheri. She was here this weekend helping to celebrate my son's wedding (held last June in NC). She admired the bag when visiting my quilt studio and exclaimed when she saw the cookbook, that she had been looking for a copy. So it seemed like she was the logical person to receive the farmers market bag and cookbook. Cheri offered to make a donation to our neighborhood fundraiser (since I had originally made the bag for that purpose) but I suggested she give a nice donation to the charity or nonprofit organization of her choice. She suggested In Other Words Bookstore, where Rebecca works, which was listed on Harlan and Paula's gift registry as a place to make a donation in honor of their wedding. So In Other Words will get a little boost to help it keep serving Portland (see Inotherwords.org).

I am so glad that the two Farmers' Market bags have found good recipients, and now I will focus my efforts on the remaining months. I had planned to make a bag for the fundraiser for the American School in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, that is run by Michael's cousin Jerry. That will most likely be my December bag. For November, I have a few choices for non profit groups here in town. I have made one "place mat" bag (photos still to come) and have a few more lined up to make in different colors and fabrics. But I am so busy for the next two weeks it may not happen until life calms down again in November.

October Bag Giveaway

I am very happy to have found a recipient for one of the September farmers market bags I made, originally for the Fulton Neighborhood festival. I gave it to my cooking teacher and guru (for over a decade), Robin Asbell. I first met Robin when I enrolled in her Vegetarian Thanksgiving cooking class at my neighborhood over 10 years ago. My children were vegetarians at that time. I learned how to make vegetarian entrees, a terrific cranberry chutney, and a creamy tofu pumpkin pie. I went on to take several more classes from Robin at various locations: community centers, cooking schools, and Whole Foods. I took many vegetarian classes (Chines, Indian, Thai, Italian) as well as classes that feature regional cooking (Tuscany) or foods from our local farmer's market. Robin is so wise and knowledgeable about food and cooking. Every time I take a class from her I walk away with a better understanding of cooking, ingredients, and cultures of the world. Last year Robin's first cookbook was published" The Mew Whole Grains Cookbook" (see her website at robinasbell.com). It is a gorgeous cookbook, beautiful color and photos, but best of all, fans tic recipes. I have given copies to just about everyone I care about who cares about good food. She is publishing a new vegetarian cookbook next year and I can't wait to get my copy. I love the recipes Robin creates because they are healthy, feature whole grain and whole foods, and offer unique combinations of ingredients. For example, her African mock chicken stew combines peanut butter, yams, and millet, as well as many other ingredients. Her squash tart is topped with aged Gouda and toasted hazelnuts. These are just a few of the recipes she has created that I have made again and again receiving rave reviews.

Yesterday Robin came over for for tea and we had a wonderful afternoon together. She was giving me advice about my food writing and cooking memoir and we managed to talk about many things revolving around food. Since she is a passionate patron of the St. Paul Farmer's Market, I decided to give her one of the farmer's market bags. I gave her the one with the orange pumpkins on it and she said it matches her hair (see photo above). I also gave her the copy of Local Flavors, the Deborah Madison cookbook which she did not already have.

That night at my quilt guild I received information about two non profit organizations that have silent auction fundraisers. So I should be back on track with the next bags I make.

Bags to giveaway

October is here and I still haven't given away the two September Farmers' Market bags. I have my monthly quilt guild meeting this week and I will bring them for show and tell and see if anyone knows of a fund raiser I can give them to. I have roasted and pureed the two pumpkins, cooked and eaten the squash, and used the two jars of honey. So all that is left to fill them with are the two Local Flavors cookbooks.

I haven't made another bag since the quilted placmat bag last month, and now it it is already mid October. If I can't come up with another person or place to give it to, I guess I will see if my daughter Rebecca will take it back to sell at her bookstore and keep the money as a donation. This is a busy month with my kids coming home, my son's in-laws visiting us, a post-wedding party for my son and daughter-in-law (see first January post), and then a workshop in DC.
But I hope to make at least one more quit led bag this month!

Nearing the end of the project

It is hard to believe that I have only three months to go of this Bag of the Month project. I have so many ideas and materials still waiting to be made into bags to give away! I finally tried out a pattern for a bag made from two quilted place mats. I had bought the place mats online: 4 pairs, each pair a different color, and very tightly quilted. They are made in Morocco and promised to make lovely bags. I made the first one with the dark blue place mats, using my own blue and black floral print for two outer pockets and lining, and using black cotton webbing for the handles. It came out very nice (Photo to come in my next post). I have plans to make three more bags with the remaining 3 pairs of different colored place mats. I am thinking of giving them to Rebecca to sell at her bookstore (In Other Words) to raise money since they are always in the red. I wonder if anyone would buy these quilted totes. I'll see what Rebecca says when she comes to visit next month. Then there is November and December and I don't have any ideas for projects to give away. Plus, I have the two farmers' market bags from September still sitting here after I rescued them from the flooded silent auction.

a big disappointment

I went to the neighborhood festival on Saturday, eager to see the two farmers market bags on display, brimming wit goodies.
It had begun to rain so I went to the park building, assuming the silent auction was indoors. It was not. I was very surprised to see a big set of tables outside on the sports filed labeled Silent Auction. And everything on them was getting wet!
I located my two, sopping wet and bedraggled bags. Luckily the cookbooks had been removed, but there was not mention that anyone bidding on the wet bag would also get a lovely cookbook to go with it, as well as the honey, pumpkin and squash, all dripping with rain.
I felt so badly to see my little creations suffering so. I cam home and told Michael, bursting into tears as I related the sad story. He gallantly returned to the park and rescued by bags and located the two cookbooks (they were damp as they had not been removed from the bags until after it had begun to rain). I wiped then dry and put the bags on my laundry rack.
So now I have two farmers market bags to donate somewhere else. Any suggestions?
Please let me know!

My friend Carol

The two September Farmers Market bags I just finished are dedicated to my friend of 33 years. I met Carol before I even moved to Minneapolis to begin graduate school. Back in those early years in the Twin Cities she was one of my first and most constant friends. I remember many evenings at her cheerful and colorful home eating homemade lasagna, bread, and cookies.

When I was pregnant with my twins, Carol loaned me all her hand me down baby clothes and paraphernalia since we had no money to buy baby things. She used to visit me often when I was home with the babies, offering friendship, support, and encouragement as I struggled to deal with parenting two difficult babies.

Later in life after admiring Carol's beautiful quilts for years, I was inspired to learn quilting. Carol has been a great teacher and mentor in this area ever since.

Carol is a gifted and creative quilter who is known for the brightly colored fabrics she uses and her gorgeous, one of a kind quilts. She has long been making house quilts such as this one which won a prize at the annual Minnesota Quilt show a few years ago. Whenever I see brightly colored fabrics I thick of Carol, and even have a big plastic bin of fabrics in my quilt studio labeled "Carol Colors."

Carol has a big heart and an incredible capacity to provide care and comfort to people through her friendship and endless supply of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Even when dealing with family and health challenges in her life, she remembers my birthday and anniversary with a beautiful hand made card and a plate of her famous and freshly made cookies.

When my husband andI were looking for a place to live and start a family, Carol suggested the Linden Hills/Fulton neighborhood that we now live in. She has sent her sons to the local primary school and High school and has taught and been involved in Southwest community education for many years. Therefore, it seems fitting to dedicate these bags to her, and I hope they raise some funds for our shared neighborhood, even if they are not made in Carol colors!

Two September bags

Here are the two farmers market bags for September. I am dedicating these to my good friend Carol (more about her to come). She lives in the neighborhood and these bags will be auctioned off at our neighborhood fall festival fund raiser.

These bags went together quickly. I had bought the fabrics earlier in the summer. Both have vegetable prints. They are lightweight and roomy and should be useful when buying produce at the farmers market. I went to the Mill City Market yesterday to buy things to fill the bags. For each bag I am using the things shown above: a nice organic pie pumpkin, an organic delicata squash, a jar of single source honey from a local farm, and a copy of one of my favorite cookbooks: Local Flavors by Deborah Madison. I have made many of the recipes in this book and they are fantastic. A great way to cook local fall vegetables.

Time to sew again

I can't believe September is here and I need to get going on the September bag. I have agreed (volunteered) to make TWO bags, again farmers market bags, for my neighborhood fall festival and fundraiser. I am going to make them quickly, and keep them light and functional, like the August bag. I have two cute fabrics to use, one for each bag. They should go quickly. Tomorrow I plan to go to my local farmers market to buy some things to put inside them: honey, maple syrup, wild rice, etc.

It feels like ages since I have used the sewing machine. I had to evacuate my quilt studio to have it painted (a lovely golden yellow) and now it is all reassembled and nicely organized. It looks too neat and tidy for me to start making messes again. I think I'll cut out the fabrics tonight and then start sewing this weekend, after I get bobbins wound and threads chosen and all that good stuff. I have been listening to great music on pandora.com while I sew. You create your own radio by selecting the artists you like. It is so great because you hear all your favorite musicians and you also hear others that you didn't know. Most of these I really like. But if you don't like a song being played, you can give it a thumbs down and it is stopped and a new one starts. Better than radio and even better than i-pod shuffle!

Right now I have created four stations and the one I play the most is a mix of Garbage, Ani d'Franco, Dar Williams, and the Cranberries. It also plays Edie Brickell, Alanis Moriseete and others that I was not familiar with but enjoy, and now they serenade me as I work in my quilt studio (where my computer is also housed). I think I will also set up an Irish music station to remind me of the wonderful time I spent in Ireland last month!
OK, now to cut out fabrics and get started.

On vacation in Ireland

I am in Dublin enjoying the cool weather here with a little bit of sun each day. I have not been thinking about bags or quilting but I did stumble upon a fabric shop that had some nice prints but not quitling fabric. We will be a few more days in Dublin and then on to the west coast for a hiking trip. When I return it will be time to start on the September bag which I will make and donate to a neighbrhood fundraiser. Now, back to sightseeing!

August bag and more

I actually made the August bag in July because I knew I would be busy or traveling much of August. So here it is! it is a second farmers market bag. This time I used a colorful citrus fabric, made a big roomy bag, and did not quilt it, just lined it. The bottom is a bright print of green limes, the top and handles are a fabric of lemons. The inside lining is a darling little print of different vegetables. I only placed on item in this bag: a new cookbook called Minnesota Home Grown, a cookbook about local chefs and recipes. It has gorgeous photos and enticing recipes.

I gave this bag to Kathryn to take up to Camp du Nord to contribute to their silent auction. This bag was donated in memory of her son Danny who died at the age of 12 and who loved Camp du Nord. Kathryn and her husband Tom go every summer and help out in a variety of ways, such as teaching people how to use kayaks. I think she is there this week and hope someone like and bid on the bag.

I am heading to Ireland for a vacation with my husband so I won't be posting for a while. I will be on the lookout for bags and fabrics. Last year when we were there I met a weaver on Clare Island who gave me many of her beautiful handwoven fabric scraps. I made two tiny quilts from them.

Last week I was at a conference in Denver and my colleague Rob gave me a bag of fabric scraps from all sorts of vintage fabrics used by movie companies making period films. I think some of them will end up in a bag.

When I return from Ireland and get over jet lag I will start on a September bag to be donated to a fundraiser for my neighborhood fall festival. I am starting to think about that one already.

my daughter Rebecca

Last night I had the thrill of seeing my Virginia Woolf bag being bid on at a silent auction for In Other Words bookstore. I am in Portland, Oregon visiting my daughter Rebecca who manages this bookstore. It was really great to attend the annual "Lit Feast" fundraiser, meet so many of Rebecca's friends, and see her in action as she worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help the evening flow perfectly from activity to activity. I was overwhelmed by her many fans who told me how much they adore her and what a great mom I must be to have produced Rebecca. I felt like a celebrity as I was exclaimed over by yet another person when introduced as "this is Rebecca's mother"/. The Virgina Woolf bag that I made and donated to the silent auction, was created in honor of my daughter. I will share a little about this amazing young woman of whom I am so proud.

My little girl, now 25, has made this city her home for the past 3 years. She chose to move to Portland after college after a careful search of places where she thought she might want to live and where she would find like-minded people. On a hot July day in 2005 she drove to Portland with her dear friend Rachel who would join her on this new adventure. They camped in the basement of my cousin Suzy's house until they could find an apartment of their own.

On her first visit to Portland Rebecca discovered In Other Words, a nonprofit feminist bookstore. She immediately went in and asked about a job. She told me that this is where she wanted to work but they did not have any positions, and only needed volunteers. As a recent college grad with a women's studies major, she was attracted to this unique store and community center. She volunteered, then became the textbook manager, and then the co-manager, a job she carries out with expertise and dedication.

Rebecca is an extremely competent person. She has had many jobs during her life, beginning in high school when she worked at the bakery down the street. She has worked at garden stores, flower shops, and food coops. Wherever she works she impresses people with her strong work ethic, her intelligence, and her commitment to professionalism and solving problems.

She is also someone who goes after what she wants in life, and gets it. Just like the way she wanted to work at In Other Words, and at the age of 25 had worked her way up from volunteer to store manager.

When I looked at my daughter at the event last night, i felt incredibly proud of her. She is such a fiercely strong and principled Peron, who is also warm, loving, and good natured. Despite having the most gorgeous long, thick, dark wavy hair I have ever seen, she cut if off last year to experience life with short hair, just to see how she would feel and how the world would treat her without her one of a kind beautiful long tresses.

For many years she was a devout adherent to vegetarianism, and yet when it became advisable for her to add fish and meat back to her diet, she quietly made the transition, shocking all of us who were so used to her staunchly refusing to eat "anything with a face." She is a wonderful cook who appreciates good cookware and appliances and even when making minimum wage always bought the best, organic ingredients.

She is passionate about music, and has always been my songbird, who loves to sing, write songs, play her guitar, or listen to music. She loves the Portland music scene and has become good friends with her music idols, another sign that Rebecca is not afraid to go after her dreams and make them come true. She volunteers at the Rock and Roll camp for girls and is going to be an adult camper there to experience playing in a band.

I marvel at the adventures and accomplishments of my daughter, who has traveled the world with a backpack, turned down a proposal of love and commitment from her first love, resisted temptations in the material world, and succeeds in living in the moment without always worrying and planning the future (unlike her mother). She is like me and she is different than me. She now talks about hiking the Appalachian trail next spring and I know that if that is what she wants to do, she will do it.l

I am grateful that my little girl and I share a deep love and closeness and I know she is always there for me, even if we don't chat on the phone every day. She always remembers the things that are important to me like writing a personal message to me in a birthday card, giving me little gifts that she knows I will like because she knows me so well, giving me head rubs when I am tired and have a headache, or asking me questions about my life and how my spirits are. She is warm and friendly to my friends, amazing people at how well she can communicate and interact with the older generation.

I watch Rebecca with interest, as she makes her way in the world. When she is happy, I am happy, She is in a good relationship now that makes her happy and secure and I am happy for her and welcome her girlfriend with pleasure.My little girl never fails to amaze me, warm my heart, teach me, amuse me, and make be eternally grateful that she is my daughter.

Note: the photo above shows the bag at the auction. My cousin Suzy donated a beatufiul English bone china teacup and saucer, I filled it with English tea and biscuits, my neighbor Kris donated a handmade writing journal, Rebecca donated three books, and I added a card made from a photo I took of irises.

My friend Barb

Now that I have given the July bag to Barb, it is time to say a little bit about her. I met Barb 28 years ago, just after I was married. Michael and i were living in a duplex near Lake Calhoun and I was an avid runner. A friend from New York, Susah, was visiting us and she introduced to me to Barb, whom she had net in graduate school, and who lived in my neighborhood. I was told that Barb was a marathon runner, so I was intrigued. I think we made a date to run together the first time we met, and soon after we became good friends. We ran together at least once a week and Barb encouraged me to try longer distances, getting me to do a 10 mile run. While we ran, we talked about our lives, our friends, our jobs, and our passion for cooking and good food. Barb introduced me to the neighborhood food coop which I promptly joined. Once a month we would volunteer there together, talking the entire time that we cut, weighted, and labeled cheeses. . We never seemed to run out of things to talk about.

A few years after meeting Barb, I gave birth to twins, and Barb became their official godmother. Soon after she fell in love and married Lon, and I was, a bridesmaid in her wedding. Over the years our friendship has grown and deepened, as well as experienced some challenges. We have shared many life events, celebrating together, and also helped each other through difficult times. During the year of my vision loss and eye surgeries Barb was always there for me, and even encouraged to me to get a second opinion when facing a risky surgical procedure. Thank goodness she did, because the second doctor advised against it.

Barb seems to know everyone in the Twin Cities and wherever we go together, she aways runs into someone she knows. She also has lots of family in town and gives so much of herself and her time to her family, especially "the elders": her mother, mother-in-law, and uncle. She hosts all the major holidays at her house and thinks nothing of cooking for 30 at a time. She is also a very giving person who devotes her time to many good causes and programs.

She is a dedicated, highly skilled, and hard working professional, is extremely frugal, and is a very principled, ethical, and selfless person. I admire her, learn from her, and value her as a friend. I was delighted when she nominated a school for the deaf for one of my bags of the month, and I hope the Farmers Mare kt bag I donated brings in a good contribution to this important educational program. This bag was made in honor of my long time friendship with Barb.

Photos of the July bag

Here is the finished bag. I bought all these great fabrics of fruits and vegetables and had a terrible time figuring out which ones to use and what pattern. I finally chose this cute yellow and blue print that has citrus fruit on it. I added a yellow fabric with blue flowers for the top and a blue fabric with little green flowers for the bottom. I used another blue and yellow floral print for the lining. For the handles, I used blue plastic webbing. The fabric already had a pieced look so I quilted it using criss crossing diagonals. I like the finished result and hope it will be a good bag to tote to a farmers market. I made a second bag for my August bag of the month but that will be in a future blog. Next posting will be about my friend Barb.

The July bag is finished!

The July bag is finished and I am planning to give it to Barb today. Since it is a farmers' market bag, I have filled it with goodies that I bought at the Mill City Market, my favorite farmers' market. They only sell products that are grown or produced in this area, and most of the produce, if not all, is organic or grown without pesticides. It is open Saturday morning and I love to go with my big empty bags and see what has been harvested that week. Last weekend I bought raspberries and blueberries, finally ripe enough to pick. I bought sugar snap peas, pea pods, radishes, cucumbers, kale, mint, spinach, and basil. For the Farmer's Market bag I bought a special jar of clover honey, a bottle o real maple syrup, a package of wild rce soup, some homemade fruit and nut crackers, some of Edna's famous caramels, and a bag of granola. I also bought a frag ant soap. Into the bag I am also putting two cards: one with a recipe on it for Mexican gazpacho, and one is a card made from a photo I took in southern France (shown below). I also put in the bag a new edition of one of my favorite cookbooks. Local Flavors by Deborah Madison, which provides delicious recipes using seasonal ingredients from farmers markets. I was going to upload photos of the finished bag but my batteris are dead and I am recharging them. When I upload them in my next post I will also write about my friend Barb, becuase I made this bag in her honor.

A little setback

I was waiting for my vegetable fabrics to arrive to make the July farmers market bag, and was sewing a black and white table runner, when.....
Ouch, my machine sewed my finger. I don't know how I managed to get my finger under the needle but it went right in and broke off, leaving a 3/8 inch piece embedded in the index finger of my left hand.
My husband drove me to Urgent Care and after an x-ray to verify the location of the missing needle piece, the doctor did a little surgery and this is what my hand looked like. I had two stitches and the wound is healing well so they should come out next week.
In the meantime, the lovely vegetable fabrics arrived and I am playing with them, arranging them in different combinations to try to figure out which I will use in the new bag.

July bag

I will be donating a "Farmers Market Bag" to a fundriaser for the Northern Voices Oral Deaf school fundraiser. This event is in August, and raises money for a preschool that effectively helps deaf children learn to talk and use their hearing with hearing aids and or cochlear implants. My freind Barb reports that they work the kids hard with fun activities so they are about 2 years above grade level by kindergarten. They need to start strong,m and have some slack because with a full active classroom of noise it gets harder to hear when they are mainstreamed with normal hearing kids. This way they come in strong, and have some room to regress as they get accustomed to working and listening in noise.

Plans for the July bag of the month

I can't believe it is already July 11. I am excited to get started on my July bag of the month.

I recently made a little quilted table runner to donate to my quilt guild's annual art fair booth. Each year we make and donate quilts that are sold at the Loring Park Art Fair in August. The money earned is used to give to charities and nonprofit organizations. The table runner is made with burgundy and gold fabrics that have paisley and floral designs. The fabrics had been donated to our quilt guild and were samples from a fabric company. I have never made anyhing using these colors and had a hard time finding a good border fabric, but finally used a plain gold cotton fabric once used in a Japanese quilt. I quilted each section of the table runner separately and it came out rather nice. Here is a photo of it.

Now, back to my July bag. When my good friend Barb saw this blog she suggested I make and donate a bag to a fundraiserheld next month for an educational program for young deaf children. Barb is an audiologist and has very high regard for this school. I will provide more details on it in my next blog. I asked her to help me brainstorm an idea and theme for the bag. We came up with a Farmers Market bag, that I can fill with recipes and food products (but no fresh produce!).

I thought of my huge fabric collection which includes several fabrics printed with vegetable designs. I went and pulled them out to look at them but none of them went together well so I went online to e-quilter.com and ordered a few new pieces of fabric which should arrive soon. One is gorgeous tomato fabric, another is a panel that looks like several pieces that have been sewn together, and another is a cute green and red cherry fabric. When they arrive I will see what kind of idea comes to mind and which ones I will use.

I want to make a big tote that will hold many purchases from a Farmer's Market, with sturdy handles. I an nut sure if I will quilt it or not, as adding a layer of batting may make it too heavy and bulky. I'll determine that as I go along. If it works well, I may make two and give the second one away to a different fund raiser.

My friend Debbie

I know she goes by Debra, but to me, she is Debbie.
We have been friends for almost 20 years. I met Debbie through her husband Jeff, when Jeff andI were both singing in our synagogoue's choir. Soon after, I had an adult Bat Mitzvah and Debbie offered to take photos for me. Later she would also photograph my kids B'nai Mitzvah ceremony when they were 13. I have beautiful albums that she put together that bring back the joy and pride I felt at both of those events.

Debbie is a gifted photographer and videographer. She has recnelty retired from her professional work but still makes movies for friends and for fun, and always has a packet of photographs on hand to share that she recenlty took. Yesterday when we met at the Arboretum for a lovely, lesurely summer day togehter, Debbie showed me her exquisite photos of loons in a Wisconsin lake, and a baby bird giving its first croak of life. Debbie has also encoruaged me and given me advice as I develop my interest and expertise as an amateur photographer.

Back when I first became friends with Deb and Jeff, we spent a lot of time together at our synagogue and with our familes. Deb's daughter Chris is the same age as our twins, and they went through Hebrew school together. All four of our children sang in the children's choir and particpated in holiday plays, and Debbie was always helping out with these productions. Our familes joined some other synagogue familes to have cookouts and go campling together in the summer. We were part of a warm network of friends that we met often at our synagogue. My children called this group the "Camping Familes". Even after our camping trips ended, we continued to meet for Jewish holidays and other social events. Deb, Jeff and their kids Chris and Matt came to feel like our family.

Over the years we have shared many things: happy events and celebrations as well as losses, illness, grief, and difficult times. We have helped each other out and been there to support each other. We have many, many memories from the past years. Whenever we get together, we share the current events in our lives, never glossing over the difficulties, but being open and honest with each other so we really know what is going on in our lives.

Debbie has experienced many challenges in her life, both physical and emotional. And yet she has a great zest for life and always has a joke to share or a funny story to tell. Her eyes light up amd a smile streches across her face as she waits for me to get the punchline or share in the amusement. I know that as a freind she is always there for me, and has been when I have had difficult times in my life. I treasure our friendship and know that even though she only lives in the Twin Cities half a year, now that she and Jeff have retired to Florida, our bonds will stay strong and we will continue to share good times. I also know that II will continue to learn from my dear friend Debbie.

The June bag is finished!

I had some free time yesterday and today and got to work on designing and sewing the bag for my friend Debra. After much deliberation, I selected pink, lavender/blue, and plum fabrics. I used a type of Log Cabin patter to surround the Photo, after first framing it with a dark indigo. All the fabrics are soft, think Hand-yes. I made the back of the bag all on fabric, the plum one.

I quilted the non photo fabrics with a flowery petal fabric, using a variegated purple thread. I like the way it came out. I was going to make the handles pinks, but cut the fabric wrong for the second handle, which pointed me to using the plum color for one handle. I like the effect of two colored handles.

Above, you can see the quilted back of the bag and the pink and plum straps.

The assembly went together pretty well but I had my little problems always. Despite careful measuring the lining was just a little too small. Things like that.

For the lining, I had bought a new batik fabric on an outing with quilt friends yesterday to a wonderful quilt shop called Blue Bamboo. I found a great fabric that had plums and pinks that went well with the hand-dyes.

Next, I am going to fill the bag for Deb. I'll write about that and about her next.

Selecting fabrics for the June bag

Here are some fabrics I am thinking using for my June bag. You can see the photo that was transferred to fabric and some lovley hand dyed fabrics around it. I might use a little bright yellow to pick up the sun, a pinkish fabric, and a very dark blue or purple. I am not yet sure of the style I will use.

I think I may frame the photo in a narrow bright fabric, maybe yellow. Then put strips around that of a darker fabric, maybe with a different color square at each corner, or a different strip around the top and then use that for straps.

I don't have it planned yet, I am just playing with the fabrics to see how they go together. I have not worked with hand dyes very much. I took at class at the Minnesota Quilt show 8 years ago and made a wall hanging with hand dyes. I really like it but never quilted it. It is in my stack of unfinished tops that I plan to finish. The fabrics have a soft, thick feeling to them. I think they will make a nice bag. I will probably quilt them to a batting, then make a lining to go inside. Maybe I'll use a printed fabric for the lining. I'll see if I can even include an inner poicket.

Meanwhile, I ordered some matelasse placemats that were made in Morocco to make some quick and easy quilted bags. They come if four colors and I plan to make one bag of each color, using a print fabric to make an outer pocket on each. I may try to give them to Rebecca's bookstore to sell and keep the money.

So I haven't begun to measure, cut, pin or sew yet. But the ideas are there. I hope to get started on the cutting next week.

Time to start the June bag

It is already June 8 and I have to start the June Bag of the Month. Before I left for my sons'swedding (last weekend) I decided to make a bag for my dear friend Deb. She is a photographer and videographer and she is often carrying photos, DVDs or books with her. When she came by to visit a few weeks ago, I noticed that she was carrying these things without a BAG, they were loose. So I suggested that I make a bag for her, and use one of her photographs on the outside.

Deb had given me a copy of this beautiful photo shehad taken in Florida (where she lives half the year) and I scanned it so I could print it on fabric.

I think it will make a lovely bag. I have not yet decided the fabric or style to use but I am ready with the photo which has been printed on fabric.

I think it will be a medium sized tote bag to carry small photo books, packets of photos, and DVDs. I will use colors from the photo above and line it with coordinating colors. It will be a simple but practical design. I hope to get started later this week!

I am back from Paris

I am back from nine days in the most beautiful city in the world. My cousin Cheri and I had a great time, walking, eating, drinking, talking, laughing, and speaking French whnever we could. I was pleased to see her carrying her quilted bag (see March bag of the month). Here is a photo i took from a bridge over the Seine, looking at the back of Notre Dame. I tried to visit Le Rouvray, the Paris quilt shop, but it was closed. I did visit Bouchara, a big fabric store with a small quilting section. I bought half a meter of a yellow floral print.


After not quilting for two weeks I was eager to get back to fabric and sewing. With my son's wedding approaching next week, I decided to make a small fabric bag to use at the wedding. The wedding colors are purple and orange, so here is the bag I sewed for myslef today!

I had some pieces of this shimmery fabric in several different colors, including purple and orange. So I cut out squares and upt them on point, sewed the outside, quilted it to batting, sewed the lining in a matching green fabric, and made handles. I now like the method of covering sturdy cotton webbin with fabric for handles.
I added a metal heart button and a fabric loop. I will put my kipstick, camera, and a good supply of tissues in this bag to keep on hand during the wedding. It is pretty small, about 8 by 10 inches. However, the straps are long enough to just fit over my shoulder.

When I come back from the wedding in North Carolina, it will be June, and time to start on my next bag of the month.

The May bag if finished and ready to fill!

Here is the finished Virginia Woolf bag. I added a fabric covered button and cloth loop to close it. The different purple and lavender floral fabrics reminded me of Virginia. The photo is one that was used on the cover of her biography by Quentin Bell. I used this photo in a quilt I made my friend Chris for her 50th birthday, that incorporarted photo tranfsers onto cloth of her 13 favorite books.

The photo on the right shows the green and purple floral fabric used in the lining. The photo below shows the back of the bag. Overall I am pleased with the bag, despite its flaws. Now the fun par, of how to fill it! Maybe I'll do that after I return from Paris. The fundraiser whree this bag is auctioned will take place in early August and i am going to Porltand to visit Rebecca and also attend the benefit dinner!

The Virginaia Woolf bag is almost done!

I am working hard to finish my May bag of the month because I leave in a few days for Paris. Hooray! So today I quilted the sides of the bag, ripped out some of the quilting, sewed the sides together, sewed the lining, sewed the straps, sewed a little closure strip, and made my first cloth covered button. Now it is all assembled and the only thing left is to sew on the button. As usual, the bag has many flaws. I had to sew two lines of stitches on each edge of the strap because the first line of stitches was too wide. Because I have a vision disability (no central vison) I kow there are other things that I did wrong or willshow up as flaws. But I hope to compensate for this by filling the bag with wonderful Virginia Woolf goodies.
Rebecca is going to donate a few books. My choices are Mrs. Dalloway and the biography of Virginia by her nephew, Quentin Bell. Maybe also a copy of the wonderful book "The Hours" by Michael Cunningham that is based on Virginia, her life, and Mrs. Dalloway. I am going to add some English breakfast tea and English biscuits (cookies). My meighbor Kris made a writing journla to add and I will get a nice pen. Any other suggesitons? I'll upload of photo of the finished bag tomorrow, when the button is sewed on. I am calling it quites for tonight.

May is a busy month

I have not made much progress on my bag yet. It is a busy time of year. I am finishing up the semseter (one more week of classes) and then taking off for nine days in my favorite city, Paris. I will be on the lookout for fabrics and textiles there (when I am not walking, eating, drinking, taking photos, etc). Soon after I return from Paris we are heading to NC for our sno's wedding. I have already given him the purple and orange batik chuppah (canopy) for the wedding ceremony. It is six feet square and can be used as a bed quilt or wall hanging after the weddding.

The last time I worked on the Virginia Woolf bag, I set the photo in a lavender border, then set it on a floral fabric (on point) then set that in a dark floral print. I started to quilt the front and back panels to batting and then stopped. I hope to finish qulting the front and back tomorrow, and then sew on a bottom strip, and make the lining.

The bag will be auctioned off at fundraiser for In Other Words, the non-profit feminist bookstore in Portland where my daughter works. I just found out toda that I will be visiting her for the fundraiser, which is August 1. I will spend a few days in Portland on my way to a meeting in Denver. August will be a busy travel month as well, as we are going on a hiking trip in western Ireland. So I will try to make the August bag during July.

OK, time to pack up and get ready to leave the office and head out for an early birthday celebration. My 58th birthay is on Sunday.

Designing the Virginia Woolf Bag

Here are the building blocks of my Virginia Woolf bag. I have the photo tranferred on fabric, and some lovely small print florals. I am thinking of putting a narrow lavender border around the photo, then putting that on a square (on point). I will then add traingles of the dark purple rectangle to form one side of the outside of the bag. I may use the green floral for the inner lining. I may also use a white with lavender print for a top border and the bottom fabric, and a pale floral for the straps.

I am eager to get started. This should be fun.

Starting to plan the May bag of the month

The bag for May is going to a Virginia Woolf bag. This is one of my favorite photos of Virginia. I spent a year reading her books in high school and especially loved Mrs. Dalloway. A few years ago when the book The Hours was published I loved it, becuase it included Viriginia and Mrs. Dalloway as characters. I am making a Virginia Woolf bag to give to Rebecca's bookstore for their annual fund raiser this summer.
Rebecca works at In Ohter Words (inotherwords.org), a non-profit feminist bookstore in Portland, Oregon.
I am thinking of using this photo on the outside of the bag, so I just printed it on cloth. I like to use Printed Treasures fabric sheets to transfer photos to cloth on my printer.

When Rebecca was home in March we picked out some delicate floarl fabrics to use in making this bag, but I hvaen't begun to plan a pattern yet. It will be floral, with a few coordinating fabrics. I already have plans of what to fill this bag with: some Virginia Woolf books (which Rebecca will donate), a teacup and some British tea, a journal and a pen. My neighbro Kirs already volunteered to make a journal to put in the bag!

I am thinking of putting a small border around the photo of Virginia, and then setting this in a patchwork design of sorts. I'll have to play with fabrics to see what pattern will look best. I'll probably make the front and back the same, and then use a simple floarl lining.
OK, stay tuned. I may try to work on this tomorrow.

My cousin Cheri

This vibrant and beatufiul woman is my cousin Cheri. I had just finished 8th grade when Cheri was born. I came to spend a week at my Aunt Carla and Uncle Earl's home, as I did each summer, and was thrilled to be able to hold, cuddle, and play with the adorable baby Cheri. Each year when I came back to visit, I delighted in spending time with the growing girl, as she grew from baby to toddler to preschooler. When Cheri was three, she was quite articulate and precocious. My cousin Beth and I used to dream up little plays to perfrom and bribe Cheri to take on speaking parts in them, along with her sister Wendy. When Beth was studying the famous Lady MacBeth monologue at her summer theater program, Cheri learned it by heart as well. We loved hearing her proclain in her solemn little voice, "Out, Out damn spot, Out I say." Cheri was like a little sister to me, and I adored her, becuase I had no little sister of my own, just annoying little brothers.

I remember taking Cheri to summer camp with her older sisters, talking with her about the frustrations of junior high school, and admiring her efforts to learn and play viola.

Many years later, when I was married, the mother of young twins, and living in our newly purchased house, Cheri came to visit. She was applyingfor summer law internships. She was an attractive and poised young woman, and I wondered when and how she had managed to grow up into this impressive young ault. In my mind, she was still the little cousin I loved to play with.

Now Cheri is a lawyer, a wife, and a mother. She wears many hats and is invovled in a variety of important activites, yet still finds time to do the creative hobbies that are important to her. In addition, she is running for her local school board, being willing to generouslyy give her time and talents to the important cause of improving public schools in Indianapolis. Over the past five years I have enjoyed several visits to Cheri's home, as we carted our daughter to and from college in nearby Richnond, Indiana. We have enjoyed some wonderful cousins gatherings and have comforted each other at family funerals. I feel that I have known Cheri all of her life, but I know I will get to know her on a deeper and more personal level when we travel to Paris together next month. I look forward to long walks in this beatiful city, long talks over cups of tea or coffee, or over evening glasses of wine at a sidewalk cafe. I know that the experience of living in Paris with Cheri will be a special one, and one that I will treasure forever.

The April in Paris bag is finished!

I really enjoyed making this bag and it went together smoothly. I cut rectangles of the outer fabric so that I had outer borders of sunflowers. I quilted the outer fabric to batting using diagonal wavy lines and some vertical lines along the yeelow stripes. I made a big sunflower pocket for the inside lining and sewed it to the contrasting print (see below).

I also used the stripes from the lining fabric to make handles, using a method I learned when making the March bag of the month. I cut 45 inch strips of cotton webbing, and a six inch wide piece of lining fabric. I folded the fabric in half, lengthwise, and ironed it. Then i folded each side into the center, slippig the webbing under one of the two side flaps. I folded the two sides together, and then stiched along each side of the strap. The result is a nice firm strap. After sewing the bag together, I added a bright yellow sunflower button to sue with a fabric loop to close the bag.

Next, it is time to fill the bag with goodies. You can see the things I selected in the photo below. First, I have chosen a bright read and orange

scarf I bought in a little shop on the Rue Mouffetrad in Paris two years ago, that matches the colors of this bag.

Next are two books about Paris: one is Postcards from Paris and the other is a Paris walking guide. I have enjoyed these books and and sending them on for Cheri to read. Next is a big travel laundry bag made from a fanciful Paris print fabric. I made one for me too, to use on our trip next month. There is a piece from the cooking memoir I am writing, called "Dreaming of Paris" that is about my love affair with Paris and has a few of my favorite recipes. I have included a bar of soap scented with Provencal flowers, a CD of Paris cafe music, a blank card I made with a photo I took out of my hotel in Paris, two years ago. Finally, there is a jar of candied violets, from France. I am putting all these things in the box and packing it up to send to Cheri. In my next post, I'll say more about Cheri and why she is so special to me. Also, I want to thank those of you who have been leaving comments on my blog, It is grea to hear from you and I am glad you like my bags!

TIme to start the April bag

April is rushing by and I have been pondering what bag to begin next. Since April is often linked with Paris, as in "April in Paris" I decded to begin a Paris celebration bag for my cousin Cheri. Cheri was conceived in Paris and has always loved that city. She spent time there during college and has been longing to go back. Last fall at a cousins gathering, Cheri responded to my plea to find someone to travel to Paris with me this May, I am so grateful she agreed to be my traveling companion, so I want to make her a quilted Paris bag. I am using Provencal fabrics purchased from a Paris quilt shop, Le Rouvray. Shari picked the colors and seleted these from my collection. I am going to use the deep orange and sunflower fabric for the outside of the bag and the yllow/orange fabric for the inside. I have some yellow cotton webbing I may use for the straps. I also have a big yellow flower button I can use to close the bag.

I am not going to piece this bag, just quilt it. I will quilt the outer fabric to batting. Then line it with the inner fabric. It will be a large squarish tote, big enough to carry a notebook to meetings (in the hopes Cheri is elected to her local school board, next month).

Even if she isn't elected,I am sure she will be able to find plenty of things to fill this bag.

My friend Kris

Now it is time for me to say a little bit about my friend Kris, to whom the March bag is dedicated. Kris and her husband Dave moved next door to us in 1987. However, Kris and I did not develop a deep friendship until several years later, when we formed a writing group together. We used to meet weekly, sharing our different creative efforts. I knew Kris was an artist, but I grew to appreciate her incredible talent, vision, and creativity through the writers' group. She has painted beatufiul pictures, created strong and stunning scultpures, written provocative and lilting poetry and essays, and put together amazing collages and collage books. I am always fascianted by how Kris sees the world through her artist's eyes and what leads her to create the masterpieces she has shared with me. My favorite of her creations is a set of dolls, cut out of African fabric, dangling in a dancing posed, from the ceiling. Each carries something unique in her hand.

In addition to being an artist, Kris is a dedicated teacher or writing, art, healing and the merger of these areas. She gives generously of her time to students in classes, workshops, and in many indepent study projects. Kris also gives her time and energy to the Sexual Violence Center, where she helps survivors heal and face their lives after devastating trauma. What is amazing about Kris is that she does so much for others, gives so much of herself, and yet deals with many severe physical challenges in her own life. It is hard to believe that she often feels so much pain she can harldy move, becuase when she does come out into the world she is so cheerful and warm to everyone she meets. But I know behind the smile is the memory of fatigue, sore muscles, and a body that continually limits and challenges her.

I have learned a termendous amount from my friend Kris, and apprciate what she has given me through her friendship over the past years. Every few weeks we try make a point of having a soy latte together so that we can chat and catch up on our activities, families, and lives. I always feel uplifted and refreshed after one of these coffee dates.

I think you can see why I wanted to donate a quilted bag to the Sexual Violence Cneter in honor of my dear friend Kris. I hope someone bids for and buys this lavender floral bag at the silent auction fundraiser this spring.

This was the most difficult bag I ever made!

My March bag is finished! I can't believe how long it took to make or how difficult it was. Lesson to be learned: do not believe the statement in a pattern that a bag is extermely easy to make. The instructions for this bag were often quite cryptic and I had to read them over and oever, pin the pieces, and try to figure it out. I will NOT make this bag again, that is for sure.

However, it is a pretty bag as you can see. And it's finished! Rather than use a cloth covered button to close it, I had a nice blue flower button already and I used that. It has two pockets inside, both on the diagonal. The seams have all been covered with the lavender fabric (also on the diagonal giving a twisted effect). So it really is a "Twist and Shout" bag, but I won't tell you what I shouted as I sewed and resewed or broke needle after needle.

This photo shows the lining and the lavendar covered seams. The bag is big and sturdy but has a soft cozy feeling to it, due to the soft fabrics used and the nice lofty batting.

Now it is time to fill the bag. Since it is going to a fund raiser at the Sexual Violence Center, I want it to be a bag of healing. So here are some of the products I will fill it with.

These products include:

A lavender products gift set (donated by my husband Michael).

A lavender candle

A tin of lavendar and chamomile tea

A CD of healing music

I will also add some blank cards I made with soothing photographs I took of the ociean and the woods, and maybe some lavender flavored cookies or honey.

I feel very proud and relieved that the bag is finished and I can start working on the wedding chuapph for my son's wedding in late May. That is what I will be doing for the rest of this spring break week!

The beginning of a healing bag

Here are the two fabrics that are being used on the outsdie of the bag I am mkaing this month. This bag will be a healing bag, to be donated to the Sexual Vionence Center's fundraiser. I cut the two main fabrics into little squares and am sewing them to the batting and lining using a "quilt as you go" method.

In the photo below you can see the white flowered fabric that is the lining and the lavender fabric (big square on the left) that is the bottom of the bag fabric. I enjoyed cutting out all the pieces in advance and following the directions one step at a time. The last several bags I made have been more of a "design" as you go, more improvisational. As usual I have noticed some glitches. It seems that the bobbin thread is blue and not off white as I had thought, so the resulting quitling on the lining shows up noticeably. This blue thread will also show up as some extra quilting on the outsdie of the bag.

The bag is made by assembling long quilted rectangles that have

lining on side (the white flowered fabirc) and the squares on the other side (the checkerboard pattern). The directions say that the pattern is very user friendly and so far, so good. I am on spring break this week and hope to finish it tomorrow!

Plans for the March bag of the month

It is well into March and time to begin my next bag. I have three bags in the planning. I decided to make a bag to donate to the Sexual Vionence Center's spring fund raiser, in honor of my neighbor and dear friend Kris who so generously volunteers her time, energy and talent to this organization. I am going to make this a healing bag. I will fill it with lavender products, a candle, soothing music, and herbal tea. I am going to try a new pattern for this bag, one I bought recently from a speaker who came to my quilt guild last month. The pattern is called Twist and Shtou because it is on diagonals, giving a twisty look. I am going to make the largest size, so this tote bag can carry all the goodies I am going to put in it. If I like the pattern, then I may use if for one of the other bags I have planned. I am going to make a "Bag of her Own" Virginia Woolf bag for a fundraiser for In Other Words Bookstore, (see Inotherwords.org). It is the non-profit feminist bookstore where my daughter, Rebecca works. Rebecca and I enjoyed brainstorming what this bag will look like and what we will fill it with, when she was home last weekend.

Back to the March bag. I have picked out two fabrics to use. One is a birght lavendar print, and one is a floral with lavendar and green flowers. I think these will look nice together. I still have to choose a liner fabirc. My plan is to do all the cutting today. I have just gotten my again Bernina back from being serviced, so I am eager to start sewing again.

My friend Kathryn

I have not written much about Kathryn yet, just about our friendship. Kathryn is a beautiful, blond, Norwegian, native Minnesotan. She has bright blue eyes and a warm smile. She is one of the warmest, friendliest people I have ever known. Kathryn lights up any gathering. In addition to the sparks of light she seems to give off, she is an incredibly bright, interesting, and accomplished woman. Kathryn has degrees and training in speech pathogology, special education, early childhood education, and administration. She has also studied business. Kathryn loves to read and we were once in a book club together. We have fond memories of the year our book club decided to read Russian masterpieces. We were both well into Anna Karenina when we gave birth to our twins. Kathryn and her husband Tom are patrons of the arts: they attend concerts of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and performances at the Guthrie Theater. They also enjoy our local sports and regularly attend Gopher basketball games. Kathryn loves the outdoors and has hiked in the Grand Canyon and many parts of the world (such as New Zealand).
She and Tom love to travel and when they visit a new place, they manage to see and do more there than I knew was possible. Kathryn also gives of herself in many ways to the people around her, at work, at her church, to her friends, and of course, her family. Sometimes I wonder if she even sleeps at night, she is so busy. She recnelty returned form her second "good will" trip to Cuba where I am sure she warmed many hearts and spread good will. Can you see why I feel so fortunate to count Kathryn as one of my dearest friends and favorite people? I dedicate this bright, woven Mexican bag to her and to our lasting friendship.

The second bag is almost finished

It has taken a few weeks but this second Bag of the Month is just about done. During the process I had several technical problems. First, I cut the yellow lining fabric too small, so I could not use it. Next I cut pretty purple cotton lining and made a yellow pocket. While sewing the pocket to the lining, my bobbin case became jammed. I was finally able to dislodge it, which motivated me to clean and oil my sewing machine and schedule it to be serviced with a long overdue tune-up. After sewing the pocket on the purple lining, I realized that this lining was too short for the bag. What to do? I decided to go to my Mexican placemat collection and use two placemats for the lining. That made sense since the outer fabric is made from two woven placemats that I stabilized and quilted to batting. I also decided to use blue cotton webbing for the straps since I didn't have any extra placemat fabric to use for straps.

The new lining is stronger and more colorful than the two previous choices so I think it worked out for the best. I am going to tack down the bottom of the lining to the outer fabric, and I may add a big bright yellow butto and loop to close the bag. I am not sure about that yet.

The next step is to fill the bag with goodies. Since this bag is made from Mexican placemants, i want to fill it with products from Mexico: a CD of Mexican music, a card made from a photo I took in Mexico, some favorite Mexican recipes, and a few food proucts such as chile powder, salsa, and maybe even a bag of tortilla chips.

When my kids come home next week I'll have them check out this bag and see if they think its of good enough quality to donate to a silent auction. And now, a little about my friend Kathryn.

I made this bag in honor of my friend of 26 years, to donate to a fundraiser at her school. Kathryn and I met shortly after we were both married. We later belonged to the same book group. But we became real friends when we were both pregnant with twins, 26 years ago. We went through our pregnancies together and raised our twins together (who were born 2 weeks apart). In the early years of mohterhood we offered support, comfort, and humor as we dealt with difficult and demanding babies who never slept. We enjoyed seeing our kids play together at preschool and at each others homes and birthday parties. For years we had an annual event to celebrate the birthdays of our two sets of twins.

In those early years Kathryn and I began to run together, a few mornings a week. During those runs around Lake Calhoun we shared our life stories as well as the current issues and challenges in our lives. We ran all yar round, even on cold icy days in the middle of winter. Later we switched to walking, and now walk around Lake Harriet once a week. During those walks we ocntinue to share storeis of our lives: our work, our travel, the books we read, our aging parents, and of course our twins. Kathryn is a wonderful friend to me. She is so warm, caring, energetic and upbeat. Despite some devastating tragedies in her life, she continues to be positive and to give of herself to so many people and causes. I admire her tremendoulsy and feel very fortunate to have her as a close friend.

Over the past few years we have managed several times to overlap vacations to Puerto Vallarta, Mexcio. We have enjoyed swimming in the ocean, sitting and talking at the beach while our husbands play tennis, drinking Mexican beer or Margartas as we watch the sun set over Bandaras Bay, feasting at fabulous restaurants, and watching the fireworks on New Year's Eve. I hope we can meet in Puerto Vallarta again next year to share some more sunny times while we escape part of a Minnesota winter. We will be warmed not onlly by the tropical weather but by our enduring friendship.